The present invention relates to an IC card and a frame used in the IC card. More particularly, the present invention relates to an IC card and a frame used in the IC card having a plane coil-formed by punching or etching, in which a conductor line is wound a plurality of times on substantially the same plane, and terminals of the plane coil and electrode terminals of a semiconductor element are electrically connected to each other in the IC card.
An IC card is composed of a plane coil, in which a conductor line is wound a plurality of times, and a semiconductor element. The plane coil and other parts are enclosed and sealed by an adhesive layer made of polyurethane which is formed inside a resin film made of PVC, which forms a front surface and a back surface of the IC card, and letters are printed on a surface of the resin film.
When the thus formed IC card passes through a magnetic field formed by a card processor, electric power is generated by electromagnetic induction caused in the plane coil of the IC card. Therefore, the semiconductor element is started by the generated electric power, so that communication can be performed between the semiconductor element of the IC card and the card processor via the plane coil which functions as an antenna.
Concerning the conventional plane coil incorporated into the IC card, there is provided an insulated plane coil which is formed in such a manner that an insulation covered electric wire is wound, and also there is provided a plane coil which is formed in such a manner that a conductor line is formed when metallic foil formed on a resin film is etched.
In this connection, in order to promote the spread of IC cards, it is necessary to reduce the cost of IC cards and also it is necessary to mass-produce them. However, in the case of the above IC card in which the conventional plane coil is used, it is difficult to reduce the cost of the plane coil. Also, it is difficult to sufficiently mass-produce IC cards.
Therefore, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-310324 discloses an IC card into which a plane coil, which is formed by punching, is incorporated.
As proposed in the above patent publication, when the plane coil is formed by punching, the cost of the IC card can be reduced and the IC card can be mass-produced as compared with the IC card into which the conventional plane coil is incorporated.
FIG. 50 is a view showing a conventional plane coil 100 formed by punching. In this plane coil 100, terminals 102 and 104 are respectively formed inside and outside the coil.
Due to the above structure, a wire 114, which is one of the wires 112, 114 for connecting the terminals 102, 104 of the plane coil 100 with the electrode terminals 108, 110 of the semiconductor element 106, crosses a conductor wire 101 which forms the plane coil 100. Accordingly, when insulating covered wires are used for the wires 112, 114, the cost is raised, and a reduction in the cost of the IC card is difficult.
On the other hand, when a non-insulating wire is used for the wire 112 which does not cross the plane coil 100 and when an insulating covered wire is used for the wire 114 which crosses the plane coil 100, it becomes necessary to use two types of wires, and the manufacturing process of IC cards becomes complicated. Therefore, it is difficult to reduce the cost of IC cards and mass-produce them.
Since the thickness of the IC card is not more than 1 mm, it is necessary to form a very thin IC card. Further, plane coils formed by punching must be easy to handle when they are transported, and semiconductor elements must be appropriately incorporated into the plane coils.
The first task to be accomplished by the present invention is to provide an IC card into which a plane coil formed by punching is incorporated and the cost of the IC card can be reduced and, further, the IC card can be subjected to mass production.
The second task to be accomplished by the present invention is to provide a frame for an IC card which can be easily mass-produced and transported, and further the frame can be used for a thin IC card. Also, the second task to be accomplished by the present invention is to provide an IC card which can be easily mass-produced and the thickness of which can be appropriately decreased.
In order to accomplish the above first task, the present inventors have investigated and found the following. In general, a surface of a semiconductor element except for an electrode terminal is covered with a passivation film, so that it is electrically insulated. Therefore, a portion of the semiconductor element except for the electrode terminal may be contacted with a conductor line of the plane coil, and when the electrode terminal of the semiconductor element is arranged on the plane coil side, the terminal of the plane coil can be arranged close to the electrode terminal of the semiconductor element.
Therefore, the present inventors arranged the semiconductor element 106 so that the electrode terminals 108, 110 could be located on the conductor line 101 side with respect to the plane coil 100, and the electrode terminals 108, 110 of the semiconductor element 106 were bonded to the terminals 102, 104 of the plane coil 100 with wires. In this IC card, it is unnecessary to cover the wire, for the purpose of insulation, which connects the plane coil 100 with the semiconductor element 106, and a method of wedge bonding, which is conventionally used as a bonding method of bonding a semiconductor element to an inner lead of a lead frame, can be adopted. Due to the above knowledge, the present inventors accomplished the present invention.
The present invention to accomplish the above first task provides an IC card comprising: a plane coil in which a conductor wire is wound a plurality of times in substantially the same plane, the plane coil being formed by punching or etching; and a semiconductor element having electrode terminals to which ends of the plane coil are electrically connected, wherein the plane coil includes an inside terminal formed inside the coil and an outside terminal formed outside the coil, the semiconductor element is arranged in such a manner that a face of the element on which the electrode terminals are formed is opposed to the conductor line of the plane coil, the respective electrode terminals of the semiconductor element connected to the inside terminal and the outside terminal of the plane coil are respectively located at positions adjacent to the inside terminal and the outside terminal of the plane coil, and the electrode terminals of the semiconductor element are electrically connected to the respective terminals of the plane coil located on the same side with respect to the inside and outside of the coil.
In order to accomplish the above second task, the present inventors arranged the semiconductor element 106 with respect to the plane coil 100 so that a plane of the semiconductor element 106 on the back side with respect to a plane on which the electrode terminals 108, 110 were formed could be located on the conductor line 101 side, and the electrode terminals 108, 110 of the semiconductor element 106 were respectively bonded to the terminals 101, 103 of the plane coil 100. The present inventors found the following. In this IC card, it is unnecessary to cover the wires, for insulation, which connect the plane coil 101 with the semiconductor element 106, and a method of wedge bonding, which is conventionally used as a bonding method of bonding the semiconductor element to an inner lead of a lead frame, can be adopted.
The present invention to accomplish the above second task provides an IC card comprising: a plane coil in which a conductor wire is wound a plurality of times in substantially the same plane; and a semiconductor element having electrode terminals to which ends of the plane coil are electrically connected, wherein the plane coil includes an inside terminal formed inside the coil and an outside terminal formed outside the coil, the semiconductor element is arranged in such a manner that a plane of the semiconductor element on the back side with respect to a plane on which the electrode terminals thereof are formed is opposed to the conductor line of the plane coil, the respective electrode terminals of the semiconductor element connected to the inside terminal and the outside terminal of the plane coil are respectively located at positions adjacent to the inside terminal and the outside terminal of the plane coil, and the electrode terminals of the semiconductor element are electrically connected to the terminals of the plane coil located on the same side with respect to the inside and outside of the plane coil.
In the present invention to accomplish the above second task, a plane coil in which a conductor line is wound a plurality of times in substantially the same plane is formed by punching or etching. In an IC card in which terminals of the plane coil and electrode terminals of the semiconductor element are electrically connected to each other, the plane coil includes an inside terminal formed inside the coil and an outside terminal formed outside the coil, and the semiconductor element is subjected to resin molding so that a connecting section formed at an end of a lead connected with the electrode terminal can be exposed, and the respective connecting sections of the leads connected to the inside terminal and the outside terminal of the plane coil are located inside and outside the coil, and the connecting sections of the leads are electrically connected to the terminals of the plane coil located in the same side with respect to the inside and the outside of the coil.
The present invention to accomplish the second task provides a frame for an IC card used for manufacturing the IC card having a plane coil in which a conductor line is wound a plurality of times in substantially the same plane, the plane coil being formed by punching or etching, terminals of the plane coil and electrode terminals of the semiconductor element being electrically connected to each other, wherein the plane coil includes an inside terminal formed inside the coil, to which the electrode terminal of the semiconductor element located on the same side with respect to the inside and the outside of the coil is electrically connected and the plane coil also includes an outside terminal formed outside the coil.
The phrase xe2x80x9cin substantially the same planexe2x80x9d described in the present invention means that the conductor line is wound in the same plane as a whole even though irregularities are formed in a portion of the conductor line which composes the plane coil.